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ARTICLES

It was in 2007 that I first came in contact with ISKCON Prison Ministry (IPM). I was scanning various devotee websites when I came across an article written by Mother Shyama Priya. The article compiled various excerpts from inmate letters and briefly described the preaching work of IPM. I was deeply impressed by the gratitude and sincerity shown by these incarcerated bhaktas.

Growing up, I always tried to make sense out of life. I thought life was a mystery to solve and everyone else knew the answers except me. I searched for answers in different religions, esoteric and conspiracy literature and even cults. But everywhere I searched, no one had a satisfying answer to my questions. I have always had a very passionate propensity to enjoy life and material pleasures, so, unable to find answers, I started experimenting with alcohol and drugs at a young age.

Iskcon Chicago’s devotees: It is with great sadness in my heart that I am writing to inform everyone that on Friday morning, August 24, 2012, Kishore Kishori’s beloved devotee, Bhakta Gerald Schutt, left his body. Although we have firm faith that he is in the hands of our dear Lord Krsna, we nonetheless will miss him tremendously. Bhakta Jerry joined Krishna Consciousness through the ISKCON Prison Ministry. He began chanting while in prison and after his release, came to our Chicago temple where his main service was working with the IPM.

Bhakti-lata Dasi is typing away busily at her laptop, absorbed in composing one of the 15 to 40 letters she writes to inmates at prisons across the US every month. But she looks up, smiling, happy to talk to ISKCON News about the service she’s been dedicating the bulk of her time to in the past two years.

Her office is a cosy room at the back of her Alachua, Florida home, dedicated solely to ISKCON Prison Ministry, an organization established in the USA in 1988 to bring Krishna consciousness to those who need it most.

When performing the same material activity, one will eventually get bored. Spiritual activities, however, have an ever fresh quality to them. “The holy name of Krsna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life”; I have read this many times, heard it many times, and even experienced it over and over again. Still, there is some part of my mind that keeps being astounded at how exponentially fresh devotional service really is. Everyone experience this quality of bhakti and the inmates are no exception.

By Lord Caitanya’s mercy, hundreds of inmates come in contact with, appreciate, and start practicing Krsna consciousness. They very seriously take up reading Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krsna. Krsna consciousness becomes the lifesaver they hold on to with great eagerness.

Prison environments are often very precarious. One inmate recently wrote me that in the five years he’s been incarcerated, he has seen more death than in his entire life before that. He is in constant danger and Lord Nrsimadeva plays an important role in his devotional life.

Hare Krsna, dear devotees,
Every day, as I read inmates letters, I want to share with all of you the miracles Lord Caitanya works in the heart of the inmates, through Srila Prabhupada’s books and the chanting of the holy name. Each book and BTG that is sent to one inmate is passed along to many others, potentially to be read by dozens of inmates, shining the light of knowledge in the darkest of places.
Below are some nectar quotes from recent letters testifying to the purifying power of Krsna consciousness.

ISKCON Prison Ministry (IPM) is a valuable branch of Lord Caitanya’s preaching tree; as such, every day His mercy brings miracles in the lives of the inmates.
For example, there’s this inmate in San Bernardino, California, who has created an altar on the desk in his cell and who is surprised to discover that fruits taste sweeter when offered to Krsna. He also presents Krsna with blades of grass, for lack of flowers, and says the blades of grass stay green longer at Krsna’s feet!

Every day, inmates all over the States take their beads and chant in the confinement of their cells. They read and often study Prabhupada’s books; they draw Krsna-related pictures; they share Krsna consciousness with others. Every day, hundreds of inmates reach out to a handful of devotee volunteers by writing letters full of questions, realizations and hope, practicing one of the devotional art of sharing love as described in the Nectar of Instruction; guhyam akhyati prcchati; revealing one’s mind in confidence and inquiring confidentially. It is a real privilege to be privy to these inquiries and revelations and I want to share some of this nectar with you today.